Senate Democrats said on Thursday they have given up any hope of passing comprehensive energy and climate legislation this summer. Where does US policy go from here? We speak with Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones magazine and Kate Horner, a policy analyst at Friends of the Earth. [includes rush transcript]

We broadcast from Las Vegas, which is hosting the 2010 Netroots Nation. Thousands of people are attending, including Democrats in Congress, policy speakers, progressive bloggers and more. Among them is urban environmentalist Majora Carter. Newsweek has named her one of “25 to Watch” and one of the “century’s most important environmentalists.” She is currently president of the green-collar economic consulting firm the Majora Carter Group. In...

With BP having poured nearly two million gallons of the dispersant known as Corexit into the Gulf of Mexico, many lawmakers and advocacy groups say the Obama administration is not being candid about the lethal effects of dispersants. We speak with Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and a leading critic of the decision to use Corexit. [includes rush transcript]

Concerns are being raised about the hazards posed by thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells throughout the Gulf Coast. An Associated Press investigation found more than 27,000 abandoned sites are in danger of leaking, with about 13 percent said to be particularly worrisome. Regulations forcing companies to plug the wells have been routinely ignored with no government intervention. We speak with Jeff Donn, the AP reporter who broke the story....

Just over three months ago, thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals began spewing into the skies from BP’s massive oil refinery in Texas City. The release began on April 6, two weeks before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, but it took BP weeks to even realize there was a problem. BP now estimates 538,000 pounds of chemicals escaped from the refinery over a forty-day period. We speak with reporter Ryan Knutson of ProPublica...

The U.S. Coast Guard has announced new rules keeping the public, including photographers and reporters covering the BP Oil Spill, from coming within 65 feet of any response vessels or booms on the water or on beaches. Violators could face a fine of up to $40,000 and felony charges.

As the BP oil spill enters its seventy-eighth day, cleanup crews across the Gulf Coast are working to try and remove what they can of the expanding oil slick. And many of them are getting sick doing it. A growing number of cleanup workers have reported suffering flu-like symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and problems with memory and concentration. We speak with a Louisiana chemist, who testified before Congress to call...

As the BP oil disaster enters its seventy-seventh day, we speak to a scientist leading a team of researchers trying to get access to the well to better study what is happening at the site. Dr. Ira Leifer, who’s on the federally appointed Flow Rate Technical Group, says BP is restricting his access to study the gushing oil well. [includes rush transcript]

Environmentalist Ted Glick will be sentenced today and faces up to three years in jail for hanging two banners inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill that read "Green Jobs Now" and "Get to Work." Glick was convicted in May of two misdemeanors: displaying a banner in a federal building and disorderly conduct, each of which carries a six-month jail sentence. But the US Attorney’s Office has asked the...

A group of lawmakers are calling on the Obama administration to take a closer look at the significant environmental impacts of a proposed massive pipeline that would carry Canadian tar sands oil 2,000 miles from northern Alberta all the way down to refineries in Texas and tankers off the Gulf Coast. Tar sands mining emits three times more greenhouse gas pollution than traditional oil and has come under heavy criticism from environmental and...